Big Cat Weekend

Auburn recruiting coordinator Curtis Luper said Wednesday in an interview with The Star that he is excited by the Big Cat recruiting weekend's success, but knows the Tigers have work remaining if they hope to land a high-profile recruiting class.

The weekend didn't result in any commitments, but did include more than 20 elite nationwide recruits for unofficial visits.

However, potential secondary rules violations have dominated the headlines in the weekend's aftermath. They would not likely result in any punishment, but have still drawn attention. Luper said would not comment on the situation.

He did say that the weekend showed Auburn is moving in the right direction on the recruiting front. After all, 20-plus top recruits paid their own way to take unofficial visits to the Plains this weekend.

"It means you're on the right track but you better keep pushing because people are right behind you," Luper said. "Now it's camp time and players are beginning to disperse all over the country. We wanted to get them before camp and we were able to pull that off to some degree, because there were more players that we wanted to get, but you don't always get it exactly like you want it.

"It doesn't say very much to us. It just means you're headed in the right direction and there are a lot of people headed in the right direction."

Luper said the biggest thing right now in recruiting is coming up with plans that are different and new. He and the coaching staff want the recruits to leave campus having seen something they haven't seen before.

"Our objective was just to be very different and unique and just to really have a good time and have it as a care-free environment," Luper said.

Now the real work kicks in. Auburn starts hosting its summer camps this weekend. Traditionally those have been huge recruiting tools for the Tigers and the current coaching staff have said they expect it to continue to be critical under the new regime.